Crocodile Browser with Anesi and Osine Ikhianosime

What is it like to be a young software engineer in Nigeria?

Osine and Anesi Ikhianosime have a deep understanding of the startup tactics that have led to so many successful companies in the Web 2.0 boom.

Their favorite podcast is a16z. Their role models include Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Bill Gates. They recently worked on a machine learning compression project, inspired by the show Silicon Valley.

They are underestimated because of their age, but both of them view youth and naivete as assets. Osine believes it is counterproductive when older people look at him and his brother with condescension.

“A young person thinks of about a million different ways to do something. An older person might think of just 500,000. A young person has more ideas, and more ways something can work. An older person should just help guide a younger person, rather than taking over the product.”

He emphasized the importance of rapid product development.

“Ignorance makes you [similar to] me. Push anything out. A product is stupid, disgustingly designed, ugly, half-baked. You just push anything out. You don’t have the standard,” said Osine.

Our conversation reinforced my belief that the world is becoming smaller and that culture is becoming more homogeneous. This shift is driven by software.

It was as easy for me to communicate with Osine and Anesi about technology as it is to converse with an American.

Osine believes that engineering is more like art, saying “your application represents you.” Anesi sees software development more like a science, saying “design is an art, but software design is more like a science.”